A roundup of some of the things that have caught my attention lately:
Emily Tate Sullivan (EdSurge) wrote a great article that laid out some of the ways in which housing solutions can help to support home-based child care. Home-based child care is a really important part of the child care ecosystem everywhere, and this is especially true in rural areas and for BIPOC families. We need all solutions on the table, and we have to invest in more than just center-based care if we’re going to get there.
I love this article from Early Learning Nation on how cities can work for children. I have been exploring how we can make communities more family-friendly by considering child care as critical infrastructure. Interestingly, this article doesn’t mention the need for child care access, but I would add it to the list of things we need to do to make cities work for children and families.
Oof. This one hits close to home for working parents with school-age children. For many of us, summer is a ridiculous combination of trying to get some work done, shuttling kids around, navigating ridiculously complex pick-up and drop-off schedules, and paying a bunch of money for our kids to have somewhere to be during the day (bonus if it’s fun for them). I think we underestimate the importance of school-age care in the child care ecosystem, but when I talk to parents, it’s right up there with infant and toddler care in terms of the strain on families and the lack of supply.
Too often, those of us who “do policy work” are really doing it “to” families. We sit in our ivory towers and act as if our thoughts hold more value than the lived experiences of the people we’re thinking about. We have to do this differently. Policy work is about people (it’s right there in the etymology, politēs = “citizen”). I’m reminded of UK Secretary of State for Health’s refrain: “Nothing about me, without me.” Last month, Zero to Three wrote this great piece outlining how we can engage and co-create with families, value their experiences, and advocate for systems that work for them. Definitely worth a read for all advocates and policymakers with some great reminders and practical applications.
Just for fun: Here’s a joke that had me, my husband, and our kiddo laughing out loud:
Me: “Hey, can I get in that hedge?”
Hedgehog: “No.”
What caught your eye this week? Tell me about it in the comments!
